Ogden crews knock down house fire

Mitch Shaw, Andreas Rivera

OGDEN -- What appeared to be a significant house fire broke out in Ogden Saturday afternoon.

At about 3 p.m., the Ogden City Fire Department responded to a house fire near the 3500 block of Jefferson Avenue.

The fire was under control by about 3:30 p.m., as no more flames or smoke could be seen coming from the home.

At least eight Ogden City fire trucks and emergency vehicles responded to the scene, along with several Ogden police squad cars. Jefferson Avenue was blocked off to traffic between 35th Street and 36th Street and those two streets were also closed to east- and westbound traffic at Jefferson.

Ogden resident Manuel Valero was visiting a friend who lives in the neighborhood when the blaze broke out.

Valero said at one point, there was some question as to whether or not someone was trapped inside the house, so he entered the house through a back door.

"I heard somebody might be in there, so I went in to check," he said. "I crawled in through the kitchen, but it was too hot. The whole room was engulfed."

One of the occupants of the home had evacuated, but was unsure if the second resident was home or not. After an primary search by rescue crews, it was detirmined that there was no one trapped inside. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is unknown and being investigated by the Ogden City fire marshal. Damage was estimated to be about $50,000.

The residents are staying with friends and did not require assistance from the Red Cross.